Heat and drought – unlike, for example, flooding – are relatively new and unfamiliar challenges in Denmark. With a particular focus on urban heat islands and drought in rural areas, Work Package 11 aims to build knowledge, competencies, and collaborations, as well as to develop structures, methods, and concrete initiatives that empower municipalities, emergency services, and local communities to collectively prevent, manage, and adapt to heatwaves and drought in both urban and rural settings.
How it is done
- Based on the latest knowledge and multiple types of data, new, reproducible methods are developed to map heat- and drought-related challenges and conduct risk assessments in urban and rural areas.
- Experiences with managing urban heat islands from both domestic and international contexts – with a particular focus on Southern and Central Europe – are collected, analyzed, and adapted to a Danish context to gather knowledge and inspiration.
- Joint initiatives are developed to address heatwaves, drought periods, and their derived consequences through partnerships between municipalities, emergency services, civil society, public and private companies, interest organizations, and knowledge institutions.
- A series of specific, site-based pilot projects are carried out, where the accumulated knowledge is translated into concrete solutions that are tested, evaluated, and further developed. In urban areas, the focus is on greening, rainwater reuse, and blue-green infrastructures, while in rural landscapes, both technical and nature-based solutions are employed to enhance landscape resilience. Through specific planning processes, municipal planning efforts are strengthened, and heat and drought issues are integrated across public administration.
The University of Southern Denmark leads the work package in collaboration with Aarhus Municipality. The following municipalities and utilities participate both professionally and with specific, site-based pilot projects in the work package: Herning, Copenhagen, Lyngby-Taarbæk, Lyngby-Taarbæk Utility, Randers, Samsø, Varde, and Lemvig Water.